European policy and “shale revolution”

The European countries started focusing more attention on the shale gas in the late twenty-first century when the first data on shale gas production came from the USA. Initially, many European countries found that they had no accurate data about the shale gas reserves and lacked adequate infrastructure, professional personnel, and technologies. In many European countries, the prospects of shale gas production raised serious concerns, especially among ecologists, due to its negative impact on the natural environment. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.